During minimally invasive surgeries, surgical instruments such as trocars, cannulas, and optical medical devices, including endoscopes, cystoscopes, arthroscopes, laparoscopes, etc., are inserted through small incisions or portals in a patient's body or body cavity and manipulated to perform surgical procedures within the patient.
Minimally invasive surgical procedures are safer than open surgery and result in quicker patient recovery, shorter hospital stays, and lower health care costs. Accordingly, minimizing invasiveness continues to be of importance, and there is a continuing need for devices and methods that achieve this objective.
One area that has benefited from minimally invasive surgical techniques is shoulder surgery. Shoulder surgery has evolved over the last several years from being an open surgical procedure to an arthroscopic surgical procedure. This evolution is the result of technological advances in equipment, instruments and implants.
During surgery, fluid is introduced into the surgical site to expand the joint and control bleeding. A major concern involving arthroscopic surgery of the shoulder is extravasation. Extravasation is the collection of intersitial fluid such as blood, irrigation fluids or medications into tissue surrounding an infusion site. Fluid escaping into the soft tissues of the shoulder and the periscapular region can have adverse effects on the patient. Some of these effects include tracheal compression, the accumulation of blood or clots in the joint (hemarthrosis), the forming of blood clots in veins (thrombophlebitis), arterial injury, nerve injury, the compression of blood vessels and nerves surrounding the joint (compartment syndrome), and infection. These effects cause longer recovery time as well as pain and discomfort in patients. Extravasation occurring during surgery can also cause premature collapse of the surgical field forcing surgeons to rush procedures. Because of the effects caused by extravasation, devices and methods are needed to reduce extravasation during arthroscopic shoulder surgery.